Second-row start for Liam Lawson as Red Bull juniors dominate Formula 2 qualifying in Baku
Juri Vips made the most of a late challenge to earn pole position for the FIA Formula 2 weekend in Baku, with Liam Lawson to line up alongside him on the front row.
Liam Lawson on track in Baku on Friday. (Formula Motorsport Limited)
Setting a time of 1:53.762 in the final minute of the qualifying session, Vips went to the top of the timesheets.
Kiwi Lawson also set his fastest lap on his last attempt, just 0.163 seconds down at the end of the session.
Sunday’s feature race will be a race of firsts, featuring Vips’ first pole for 2022, and Lawson’s first front-row start.
Dennis Hauger was third-fastest, making it a sweep of the top-three for Red Bull junior drivers.
Jake Hughes set the first representative time but it was Ayumu Iwasa who set a flying lap and the time to beat in the opening minutes of qualifying.
The next set of flying laps was interrupted when Iwasa flew to close to the sun and collided with the barrier at turn 4, bringing out the red flag.
A mad dash in the final minutes put Vips at the front for Sunday, with Lawson alongside him.
Fellow Kiwi Marcus Armstrong qualified fourth, with Aussie Jack Doohan narrowly missing out on reverse-grid pole in eleventh.
That honour went to Jake Hughes, who will start Saturday's feature race from pole.
Trident's Australian pilot Calan Williams qualified in seventeenth.
The FIA Formula 2 sprint race gets underway at 7.30pm on Saturday (AEST), with the feature race at 5.00pm Sunday evening.
2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship - Baku Qualifying
Juri Vips
Liam Lawson (NZ)
Dennis Hauger
Marcus Armstrong (NZ)
Felipe Drugovich
Richard Verschoor
Logan Sargeant
Jehan Daruvala
Frederik Vesti
Jake Hughes
Jack Doohan (AUS)
Theo Pourchaire
Ayumu Iwasa
Roy Nissany
Marino Sato
Enzo Fittipaldi
Calan Williams (AUS)
Ralph Boschung
Amaury Cordeel
Clement Novalak
Cem Bolukbasi
Olli Caldwell
